UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

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Naval Today said:

Two of the Royal Navy’s largest warships have left port and are sailing to the starting point of the biggest NATO exercise in 20 years.

HMS Ocean sailed from Livorno while HMS Bulwark sailed from Toulon straight into the warm up phase of Exercise Trident Juncture.

Both vessels have spent months preparing for the exercise taking part in locations around Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Ocean visited Livorno to stock up on supplies and embark US Marines in preparation for their role in the “live” phase of NATO’s biggest exercise for 20 years – which will take place in Spain and Portugal at the start on November.

Since leaving the UK last month, Ocean has hosted the UK Maritime Battle Staff as it conducted a major ‘table top’ wargame and tested the communications that will enable it to command NATO’s warships in the forthcoming training scenarios.

For the ship, the tempo of operation has increased with the flight deck team and air traffic controllers working with the ship’s full complement of helicopters from the Fleet Air Arm and RAF.

Trident Juncture is also the final ‘tick’ that clears the Royal Navy’s Maritime Battle Staff to command the Naval element on the NATO Response Force in 2016.

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Jura said:

before
Nuclear Sub Project Poses UK's Biggest Financial Challenge

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...
Manpower is the first issue the Royal Navy will bring to the table at the SDSR. There is a recognized shortage in this area, which extends just as severely to the RFA.
The RFA has got to the point in which there were worries, not long ago, about not being able to crew Tidespring in her travel home from South Korea; Mounts Bay has been tied up in port for a looong time and so forth.

The regular Royal Navy is also short of men...

In order for CEPP to work and avoid a dramatic, further downsizing in the UK’s amphibious assault capability...

Queen Elizabeth will be able to embark a 250-strong Royal Marines element at entry in service. However, in order to properly replace HMS Ocean it is necessary to do a lot more: there is the need for a workable plan for transporting and deploying the Royal Marines’ equipment and ammunition, and more spaces are necessary to increase the force that the ship can project
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Naval Today said:

The front section of HMS Prince of Wales, weighing 26,500 tonnes, was skidded back with millimetre precision to the 11,200 tonne section of the rear of the carrier in Rosyth, Scotland.

HMS Prince of Wales, the second Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier under construction for the Royal Navy, is being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance. The builders’ plan is to prepare the vessel for active service from 2020.

She is the eighth Royal Navy ship to have the title HMS Prince of Wales. Construction of the ship began in 2011 at Rosyth Dockyard.

The Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, each weighing 65,000-tonnes, will provide the armed forces with a four-acre military operating base with the ability to travel up to 500 miles per day anywhere around the world.

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Brumby said:

An excellent write up on the Type 26 over at Think Defence. For those interested, the link

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Brumby said:

An excellent write up on the Type 26 over at Think Defence. For those interested, the link

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Because there is no space provision for the in service Harpoon and the likelihood that the Royal Navy Harpoon missiles will be out of service by the time Type 26 hits the water the Royal Navy is likely to be in a position where it has no heavyweight anti-ship missile and must rely on either helicopter launched Sea Venom missiles or perhaps, torpedoes.

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